Quantum Darkness
by mbs0916
Summary: What brought Leonard from New Jersey to California and what demons awaited him.
1. Chapter 1

Quantum Darkness

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing associated with The Big Bang Theory. Characters are borrowed with loving respect.

This is a story that explores why Leonard moved from New Jersey to California and what demons he faced upon arrival.

Chapter 1

Valentine's Day – 11:35 P.M.

Penny snuggled in close to Leonard and relished in the warmth of his body. She tilted her head up to him and smiled as she asked him, "Will you tell me about the reason you were in the University's childcare facility the other day?" She felt him tense up but slowly his body relaxed under her and he began to lightly scratch her back. Just the week before, she had dropped by his office to ask if she could join him for lunch but he had not been there. When she had gone to the cafeteria to see if he was there, she did not find him but a friend of Alex's; Sheldon's assistant; had suggested she look in the daycare. Sure enough, she had found him and he had been engrossed in reading a story to the children. She had left without saying anything, but he later admitted that he knew she had been there watching him. He had assured her there was nothing untoward about him being there and she wanted to believe him; but there was a story behind his actions and she needed to know.

"That's a long and sordid story; are you sure you want to know?" he asked.

She nuzzled her head back down and purred as his fingers raked over her back; she was in a state of extreme relaxation. "I know that it probably has something to do with Clara…" she started. Over the past few months, Penny had come to learn of the girl, Clara, that had been the one to initiate Leonard into the ranks of adulthood; she had been both his first serious relationship and the girl that had taken his virginity. "…and if it's too uncomfortable to talk about…"

"No. It's not that," he interrupted, "It's just that… Penny, there are some things about me that may shock you; even make you reconsider the way you feel about me." She felt his body quiver and she wrapped her arm around his mid-section in an attempt to pull him closer and calm him down.

"There is nothing," she assured him, "that could change the way I feel about you." She chuckled, "Unless you tell me that you're a mass-murderer," she joked. She did not hear him laugh and she looked up at this face. It had a solemn expression on it. "Leonard."

"Not mass. I'm not a mass murderer." He closed his eyes and steadied himself to tell the story.

****** Just a short introduction to bridge from my "M" rated story The Square Root of Christmas to more un-adult back story.


	2. Chapter 2

Quantum Darkness

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing associated with The Big Bang Theory. Characters are borrowed with loving respect.

This is a story that explores why Leonard moved from New Jersey to California and what demons he faced upon arrival.

Chapter 2

Leonard took a deep breath and sighed. "The girl I thought I would spend the rest of my life with had just told me that she no longer wanted to be in my life; I had just wrapped up a year long study and could not decide on a direction to take in my research and it was winter time in New Jersey." He chuckled. "And then all hell broke loose."

Penny squeezed him tightly. "If you don't want…"

"There are times that you need to do things that are not in your comfort zone," he started. "Penny, I really care about you and… I know you care about me."

"I love you Leonard. It's more than…"

"I know you would understand if I decided not to talk about it; but I know the curiosity would be there. I'm not willing to take the chance that that curiosity would fester into doubt about my feelings for you."

"I would never," she stated.

"Not consciously, but all humans are by nature curious and feelings can be hurt if one perceives that their chosen…" He wanted to say mate but did not feel confident enough in the circumstance; she had, after all, refused all of his proposals. Should he open up to this girl that, despite all his efforts, refused to accept him into her life fully.

"Chosen what?" She enquired. 'Where do we stand in his eyes?' she thought.

"Chosen friend. …perceives their friend to be hiding something." He extricated himself from her embrace and sat on the side of the bed. "Would you like a glass of wine? He said as he stood and strode toward the bedroom door. She squirmed to the side of the bed and threw her legs over the side. She sat there in a daze for a moment; she missed the closeness of Leonard's body. She stood and followed him into the living room; he had procured the bottle of wine and a glass and was moving back to the couch. He sat the wine on the coffee table as Penny sat down. He set the glass in front of her and poured a generous portion before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Are you not gonna have some?"

"No, I need to keep a clear head" he stated and thought to himself, 'I don't need to tell you everything.' She reached for the glass of wine and took a hearty sip. "I needed to get out of Princeton and New Jersey all together. I had recently been in Pasadena, Cal-Tech, to give a guest lecture on a paper that I had published. I just boxed all of my crap up in boxes and had them moved to my Mother's house for storage. I packed essentials and my computer and got on a plane for… here."

She sat there silently and watched the emotions war on his face; she saw sadness and loss, but she also saw excitement. Was he thinking of them; when they had met and fallen in love? Was she enough to make the loss he had suffered begin to be eclipsed by her?

"The day before I left, I went to visit… St. Michael's Orphanage." He saw her give him a quizzical look. "Clara had always been big on charity work. Before we started… dating, I had gone with her to a fundraising gala. They were raising money for St. Michael's and she needed a date. Long story short, there were a bunch of high brow couples flitting around with attitudes. They all seemed to be saying 'look at me, I'm pretending to care about these snot nosed bastards.' It was all I could do not to hurl the pate' finger sandwiches in their faces."

"Pretentious, huh?"

"Very. I was just about to ask Clara if we could leave when I saw it." His eyes widened with the memory. "They had brought in drawings that the children in the orphanage had done and set them around the room; I think they were to show that they were giving them art lessons or something. Most of them were simple pictures; some of them, if I remember right, were pretty good. But this one… this one was…" he reached up and wiped away a tear. "It was done with regular markers, but the colors were so vibrant, the artist had used markers to draw a sunset that looked out over a green meadow; the meadow was full of flowers… and the colors, oh god, they were magnificent."

"It sounds beautiful?" Penny responded.

"It is. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen." Leonard's face broke into a smile. "I keep it in my office. I show it to everyone that comes to visit."

"You didn't show it to me; I would have remembered." Penny said with a question in her tone.

"No. No, you've never been to my office. You've just visited my lab." He explained.

"Why haven't you shown me your office?" she asked.

"Well, when you've come to visit me, we never seemed to get past the door to the lab before we are all over each other," he said with a smirk. "Besides, my office is just for doing paperwork, and paperwork is not sexy…"

"Okay, but I want you to show me your office and this picture next time, before we get all sciencey and sexy." She reached over and put her hand on his arm and he smiled his agreement. "It must be good if you show it to everyone that visits you. How did you end up with it?"

"It is good. Imagine a 12-year old girl that has had a best a rudimentary education; doing a drawing that conformed so perfectly to the golden ratio."

"Golden ratio?" Penny asked.

"1.61803399" he said and he saw the blank stare on her face. "Imagine a swirl that starts from the center and moves in an elliptical motion outwards and grows as it moves around the axis." Still a blank stare. "It's a ratio that appears throughout nature and it can be found in most walks of life; it is so natural you don't seem to notice it." He concluded his description. "The drawing; and I have done extensive measurements, is built on the ratio, exactly."

"Uh huh" Penny offered.

"Anyway, I asked Clara if she knew who would know about the painter and she said that she knew the girl. She was twelve years old and had been at the orphanage since she was five. Her name was Isybol. I asked Clara if she could arrange for me to meet her and she said she would. Well, I had to have that picture and I bought it. "

"They were selling the pictures to raise money for the orphanage?" Penny asked.

"No, but Clara introduced me to the Orphanage administrator and we came to an arrangement." A smile crept onto his face. "Mrs. Perkins said that I could have the painting, if Isybol agreed, if I agreed to spend one hour a week for the next three months volunteering with the children. Clara had mentioned that we were physicists and Mrs. Perkins wanted us to do a little science demonstration for them. I said yes immediately and Clara said she would be glad to join me." He stood and walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and took out a ewer of fruit juice. As he poured himself a glass, he continued. "The next three months were so fun; the kids loved the little shows we put on for them and Isybol was delightful. She would always sit right up front and smile the whole time. Clara and I would often stay longer and visit with all of them after our 'lesson'. It hurt my heart every time, when we had to leave."

"So, these kids… they became like a family to you; sort of a substitute for the family that you were not close to; your mom?" Penny postulated.

"Huh, yeah. I guess you're right. I hadn't thought about it like that. I was transferring my disappointment about my relationship with my mother and trying to recreate that dynamic in being a parental influence on the children of St. Michael's; and especially Isybol." He nodded his head. "Yeah, and I think we all benefited from it. I enjoyed my time there so much and I think the kids enjoyed it too."

"I'm sure they did" Penny stated. She saw Leonard reach down to the table and pick-up his phone. "What are you doing?"

"I'm setting up a reminder to call Isybol. I need to talk to her and she won't be in her office for another…" he glanced at the clock on the stove, "three and a half hours."

"You still keep in touch?" Penny asked in surprise.

"Oh, yes. Remind me in the morning and I'll show you her blog on the web. She is a student at the Savannah School of Art and Design and she has a blog about the food in Savannah." He set the phone back down. "She is working toward an art degree and she does some beautiful fashion designs too."

"And she's never shared her insights of fashion with you?" Penny jibed.

"She's tried" he chuckled, "But It's hard to make a nerd fashionable." His smile faded and his eyes dropped to look at the floor. "When I left… Isybol was fifteen years old. I went by to tell them all; all the kids, goodbye and let them know I would keep in touch… the look on her face…"

"Was she upset with you?" Penny prodded.

He shook his head. "No… I mean she was upset; but not with me, for me. I think she could see the pain that I was in and I believe she was upset that she could do nothing to ease the pain." He wiped a tear from his eye. "After my goodbyes to everyone, she walked me to my car. As I turned to get in my car, she touched my arm… she said…" tears began streaming down his face unabated. "…she said 'pax vobiscum and all my love go with you. Be happy my dear friend.' I was stunned, everything my heart needed to hear and this girl had summed it up in one statement."

"What does that mean; pax vobiscum?" Penny asked.

"It's latin; it means peace be with you. I left Princeton with my burdens much lighter because Isybol saw my pain and in some manner that understanding lightened the burden from my heart."

Penny leaned in and hugged him tightly. "She sounds like a very special child."

He chuckled, "I'll call her before I leave for work in the morning, if you like, I'll introduce you and let you talk to her."

"I'd like that."

"Sounds like a plan, but that's enough of the story tonight. We need to get back to bed. We both have to work tomorrow." He stood and took her hand to help her up and he led her to the bedroom. As they both settled down to sleep, his last thought as he lost consciousness was 'Will Isybol keep her word and not mention the PROJECT'.


	3. Chapter 3

Quantum Darkness

Standard disclaimer: I own nothing associated with The Big Bang Theory. Characters are borrowed with loving respect.

This is a story that explores why Leonard moved from New Jersey to California and what demons he faced upon arrival.

Chapter 3

The sun was streaming in the window and Leonard opened his eyes. The spot beside him in the bed was empty and he heard the shower running in the washroom. 'She's up early' he thought as he groggily stood up and walked toward the door leading to the living room. As soon as the door was opened, he smelled it; she had already made coffee. "What is up with her, this morning?' he wondered. He heard the shower shut-off and he continued to the counter to make his cup of coffee. He sat down at the table and opened up his laptop; as it booted, he went to the cabinet and found a package of bagels, removed one and put it in the toaster to warm. He went to the refrigerator and took out the blackberry jam and sat it on the table.

As he sat down at the table with his warm bagel and a knife to spread the jam, he let his finger flit over the touch pad and clicked on his mail program. He set the bagel and knife to the side and typed the address in to contact Isybol to see if she was available for a video chat. He hit send and went about spreading jam on his bagel. He was half-way through his breakfast when Penny walked out of the bedroom; she was beautiful this morning. Her hair was in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of white jeans with a floral print shirt. He knew that she didn't think he noticed such things, but he loved that she wore just a light powder of make-up and a clear lip gloss that let her natural beauty shine through.

"Hey, beautiful. Can I make you a bagel?" He stood and kissed her on the cheek before turning for the counter, without waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, that'll be great," she answered as she sat down at the table across from his plate. "What time are you going to call your friend?"

"I've already sent an email to see if she might be available for a video chat. She's seen your picture a lot of times, but you've never seen her so I thought…" Leonard started

"Why has she seen my picture?" Penny asked.

"You are all over my facebook page," Leonard explained.

"I've never seen her name on your page; I looked through you list of friends…" she paused and her eyes grew wide,

"Okay, that's not weird. What were you doing going through my friends list?" Leonard asked.

Penny looked sheepish. "That time I tried to give you a birthday party… I was looking for friends to invite. I went through your friends list and invited everyone that was local; but I looked through all of them. You have some very… 'interesting' friends."

"Isybol… well she's listed as Barbara G. Wayne in my friends list and her profile picture is an artist rendering of the Oracle of Delphi." He saw the confusion on her face. "There are certain people that do not need to be aware of the connection between Isybol and myself," he stated. "I show up as Richard Pearlson and my profile picture is a bird on her friends list"

"Is there a reason you chose those names?" Penny asked.

"It's a reference to comic books; but nothing sinister." he explained.

"Fake identities and a clandestine friendship; what are you up to Leonard?" Penny heard a beep from his laptop and turned to look at it. Leonard turned the screen so that she could see it and used the touch pad to maneuver the cursor over an accept button and tapped the pad. The screen changed to show a video of a young red haired girl.

"Hey Len, how are you doing? I wasn't expecting to hear from you for another couple of days" the young girl said.

"Hey, Izzy. I wanted to introduce you to my girlfriend, Penny." He reached up and took Penny's hand and guided her into the view of the camera. "Penny, this is my friend Isybol." Isybol stared back at her and Penny thought the screen had frozen; Isybol was completely still and made no sound.

"Wha...," she started but her back straightened up and she changed tact, "Nice to meet you Penny. I've heard a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you, too. I've heard absolutely nothing about you" Penny said with a smirk to show that she wasn't mad. "Lover boy here just told me that you existed last night."

"Whatever he told you," she paused and shifted her eyes toward Leonard, "I did not start that fire." A giant grin came to her face as she saw the laughter in Leonard's eyes.

"That topic is not up for discussion" Leonard said laughing.

"That sounds like a story I need to hear" Penny said.

"I'll get to that; eventually" Leonard said, "But we have just begun the telling of the story you wanted to hear."

"Are you telling her about…" Isybol started.

"She asked me to tell her," Leonard interrupted, "about the reason I like to visit the daycare center at work and read to the children."

"So…" Isybol's eyes scrunched, "you like to go to the daycare center and read to the children? How often do you do that?"

"Every other Wednesday." Leonard turned the laptop so that he was looking directly at it and Isybol. "I miss you Izzy, and … and the few minutes every couple of weeks, seeing you through a computer isn't enough. I go there… to the daycare, to remind me of when we first met. I know that…"

"I… I do it too." Isybol started. "Not the daycare thing. I go to lunch at this place a couple of blocks from campus. It's a bakery and they… well when I first got here… I asked the owner if she knew how to make mincemeat pie. She makes me one every other Wednesday; if she doesn't sell out of slices, I buy what is left and she always saves me at least one slice."

"I haven't had a piece of mincemeat since…" he trailed off.

"Stop that." Penny heard yelled through the laptop speakers and she maneuvered to see Isybol scowling at Leonard via the screen. "Don't make me get on a plane" Isybol said. "If I have to fly to California to slap some sense into you, it's not going to be pretty."

"I'm fine Isybol" Leonard said meekly.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned…"

"No. No. I'm being over-sensitive…" Leonard interrupted.

Penny stared at the interaction; confused. "Leonard, honey?" she said. He turned to look at her and she saw recognition dawn upon him.

"Oh, sorry. I should explain" he said sheepishly. She blinked a rapidly and he continued, "Clara used to bake things to take with us when we visited our friends at St. Michael's; she would let someone pick what they wanted her to bring the next time. One time; it was close to Christmas; she let Isybol choose…"

"I didn't remember much," Isybol took up the story, "about my parents; it had been almost eight years since…." Now it was Isybol's turn to become morose. "But I remembered mincemeat pie; I had always thought that it was real meat in it. I asked Clara if she would make one for me." She sniffled. "It was as good as I had remembered it and I swear, when I was eating it I could feel my mother's hand brushing my bangs out of my face. I know in my mind that there is no such thing as ghosts; but in my heart I felt she was there." Her hand went to her eyes and she scrubbed away the tears that were welling up.

"Sweetie, of course she was there" Penny comforted. "I'm sure that your mother loved you so much that…" she didn't know how to continue that thought without hurting her even more.

"So Lenny, have you introduced Penny to Eva?" Isybol asked.

"No, that is my next step. You were the first bombshell and Eva will be the second." Leonard stated.

"So who will be the third on the match? Isybol asked. "Will you tell her about...?"

"Let's see how the story unfolds" he interrupted.

"Tell me about what?" Penny asked.

"Okay, enough about that." Isybol insinuated herself. "Leonard, you get on off to work. Penny and I are going to chat for a while,"

"I don't think that is a good idea," Leonard said.

"I disagree. You mosey on and Izzy and I are going to have a chat." Penny said as he shooed Leonard toward the door. She turned back to the screen. "So Izzy, what can you tell me about my evidently mysterious boyfriend?"

The last thing Leonard heard was the two girls giggling.

~ Later that Night ~

Leonard strode up the stairs to the 4th floor landing. It had been a productive day at work and he had been able to distract himself from the scary thoughts of what Izzy and Penny had talked about. As he rounded the corner to the last few steps, he saw Penny sitting on the top step.

"Hey," she said shyly as he took the last few steps and pivoted to sit beside her, "How was work today?"

"Good," he said as he scrunched his eyes in a questioning gesture. "Did you have a good day? You had the lunch shift at work; right?"

"It was okay. I had a couple of rude customers, but I survived."

"They didn't… how were they rude?" he ask with trepidation.

"Oh, just some off-color remarks and they left a lousy tip," she explained.

"Oh, sorry. I mean for what they did; not for what they didn't do. I mean I'm sorry they were jerks; I'm just glad they weren't… you know… handsy. I would have hated to have to track them down and…" Leonard tapered off.

"You would wouldn't you? Just like you stood up to Kurt for me." He looked at her with confusion. "I worked it out eventually. Kurt was still a jerk and I finally got him to admit that you had gone to him and demanded he pay the fine amount back to me." She smiled at him. "And… he told me about writing on your forehead with a sharpie. Sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," he absolved her. "Kurt was just a jerk."

"What does that say about me? I was completely blind to it for too long," she admitted.

"It shows how much you have grown and matured in the past few years." Leonard put an arm around her and hugged her tightly.

She sat there and enjoyed the feeling of Leonard holding her tight. After a few minutes she quietly said, "I enjoyed talking with Izzy this morning." She pulled back to look at this reaction. She was astonished to see that he was completely calm; was he not worried about what Izzy could have told her?

"I'm glad you had the chance to get acquainted." He looked directly in the eye. "Izzy is an important part of my life. I love my sister, but Izzy; she's like the sister… well if I had been reared by a mother that knew how to show her affection and had a sister raised by that same mother…" Penny put her hand on Leonard's cheek. "I really do love my sister. Izzy is just…"

"I understand." She cupped his cheek and brought her lips down on his in a tender kiss. "I talked to her for over an hour and I can see why she is special to you. She is kind and empathetic." His eyes shot open in wonderment. "Oh, don't look so surprised that I know what that word means." She lowered her eyes from his and stared at his lips. "She used that word to describe you; you know. And I agree completely."

"Did she tell you the story of when she came to visit me?" he asked.

"She mentioned it, but she said you needed to tell me your version before she elaborated on it."

Leonard laughed at that and shook his head. "Typical Isybol. Well it was about six weeks after I had moved out here and I was just getting settled into my new position and I had found an apartment about two blocks from the campus." As he told the story he saw the events in his mind's eye.

~ A long, long time ago… ~

Leonard was in his laboratory adjusting the eyepiece on an electron microscope when he heard a knock on the doorframe. He took his eye from the viewfinder and looked up to see his friend Samantha. "Hey Samantha. What brings you down to this end of the corridor?" Samantha was in the Theoretical Physics department and was very seldom seen outside the few offices set up for that particular field. They didn't need equipment; as she had put it when they first met at the welcome reception for new staff that he had attended when he first arrived. Their minds were their equipment.

"I was just heading to the cafeteria for lunch and thought that maybe you would like to join me… if you haven't eaten."

"No. I mean yes. Yes I would like to join you. No I haven't eaten." He stepped from behind the microscope and walk toward the desk in the corner. "Let me grab my jacket and wallet." He picked up the Members Only jacket from the back of the chair and open the top drawer to retrieve his wallet. "Will your husband be joining us?" Leonard asked.

"No. Lawrence is in the middle of a trial for a new drug and he said he needs to work through lunch in order to collate some data runs. So just you and me."

Leonard looked a little wary but shrugged it off and followed her out the door, shutting it behind him.

As they sat at lunch, they talked about the latest issue of _Physics Quarterly_ and the articles therein. He was just finishing a thought on the article about Quantum Varices in non-quantum subsets when he heard a pinging noise. Samantha apologized and pulled a pager from her jacket pocket.

"I'm sorry," she said as she looked at the message, "I need to go down to the childcare center and check on my daughter." She stood.

"Is everything okay?" he asked but the look on her face was answer enough. She looked as if she was scared out of her mind. He stood also. "I'm going with you," He saw she was about to decline the offer so he hedged, "I've been wanting to get a look at the childcare facilities… for future needs." Her look changed to one of 'Yeah right' but she acquiesced and allowed him to join her.

When they arrive, one level up and at the opposite side of the building they found Samantha's daughter sitting at a table with her head down. Samantha approached her and touched her gently on the head and the young girl raised her head. Samantha crouched down and gave her daughter a hug.

"Are you okay sweetie?" she asked gently. The young girl nodded her head affirmative and then buried her face in her mother's shoulder. An older woman approached them and sat in a chair next to Eva.

"It seems that she had a bad dream while she was taking a nap. When she awoke she was crying and we could not console her; so we paged you." The woman had a worried look on her face. "She seems to have calmed down now; if you need to get back I'll call you if she gets upset again."

"I have a light afternoon and that whack job in our department is away at a conference; I'll let her come back with me to my office and we'll spend the afternoon together." Samantha stood and took her daughter's hand. "Oh, where are my manners? Nancy, this is Dr. Leonard Hofstader. He is a new colleague from the Experimental Physics Department. Leonard this is Nancy Frost; Director of the child development center." They shook hands.

"Ms. Frost, what is your policy on employees visiting the childcare center?" Leonard asked.

"Parents are welcome to visit at any time." She replied.

"What about non-parents?" he could see the worrying look on her face. "It's just that when I was back home, I enjoyed visiting a local orphanage and reading to the children…" he started.

"That situation has never come up here." Nancy said.

"I quite understand. I know that St. Michael's did a background check on me to ease their mind; but of course I was not the one to initiate that connection. They asked me and my friend to come in and do science demonstrations; it just morphed into the reading thing." He saw the look of doubt ease on her face and he added "I'll be glad to jump through any hoops you require and if you let me come in to read, anytime you change your mind I can stop. It's your call."

"Let me talk it over with the administration and I'll let you know what they decide." She shook his hand and he, Samantha and Eva left to return to the Physics floor.

As they walked down the corridor Leonard hung back and just stared at the mother and daughter holding hands. Eva looked to be about ten years old; why was she staying at the day care center?

"Mom," he heard the young girl say, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get upset."

"Shush, honey. It's okay…" Samantha soothed her daughter. Then her beeper began to chirp and she took it out of her jacket pocket and looked at it clandestinely. Leonard saw her face drop and she glanced over to him. "This is the Dean. He needs me in his office for a meeting on the budget…" she glanced down at her daughter and Leonard could see that she was torn.

"If Eva doesn't mind, we could go to my lab and she can keep an eye on me; make sure I don't get into any trouble."

"It's okay mom. I know you are important here at your work. I can go with Mr. Leonard." Eva said.

"My work is important." Samantha stated and she smiled at her daughter. "But you are MORE important. You are the most precious thing in the world to me."

"We'll be fine," Leonard said, "She can help me decorate my office. I've been putting it off since I arrived. I think a woman's touch will be good."

Leonard and Eva had gone to his office and Samantha had gone to the Dean's office for her meeting. Leonard had taken the few things he had brought into work for his office and set them on the desk. Eva had just stood there and shook her head.

"These are all you brought to have in your office?" she asked.

"Yep," he replied as he picked up the framed picture of a sunrise and field of grass. He found a nail that had been left by a previous occupant and hung the picture on it. "This is all the decoration I need; anything more is just bric-a-brac."

"That's a funny word." Eva giggled.

"It is, isn't it?" Leonard smiled at her. "So, they said I could have my walls painted next week. What color do you think I should choose?"

Her eyes grew wide. "You want me to pick a color for you?"

"Sure. I trust your judgment completely. If I were to choose, it would probably just end up being white."

"What if you did white, but with some accents, maybe round circles in a grid pattern and you could see if maybe the maintenance guy could make you an eight sided desk with a clear plastic column in the center of it." Eva was fidgeting and Leonard could tell that she was excited by the idea.

"That sounds like… are you a Doctor Who fan?" He saw her eyes light up. "Which doctor is your favorite?"

"Me and mommy have watched all of them on Public Television and I like them all, but my favorite one is four… he just has so much… fun"

"Tom Baker is my favorite too. And the idea for the decoration sounds like a great idea. I don't think maintenance will do all the roundels." Leonard said as he shook his head.

"If you let them paint it white, I can paint the… what did you call them?" Eva asked.

"Roundels… You want to try and paint them?" he asked in disbelief.

"Mommy wouldn't let me paint them in my room at home; she said daddy thought it was silly." Eva said with a quaver in her voice.

"Then white and roundels it is then." Leonard proclaimed.

Eva's face burst into a radiant smile and Leonard knew he had made a new friend.


End file.
